Within two weeks of the 7.0-magnitude earthquake that struck the Caribbean island nation of Haiti on January 12, elements from the active Army, Army National Guard and Army Reserve were dedicated to the relief mission - called Operation Unified Response. More than 17,000 U.S. military personnel were headquartered in and around Haiti's capital city of Port-au-Prince.
The XVIII Airborne Corps Headquarters deployed a liaison team to U.S. Southern Command on January 13 to help plan the relief effort. A team from the Army's Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command, Fort Eustis, Va., arrived in Haiti the next day. U.S. Army South's 470th Military Intelligence Brigade deployed teams to assist in relief and sustainment support. Paratroopers from 1st Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, deployed January 14 and were among the first soldiers on the ground to help establish security and distribute food and water. The 1st Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, established a staging area near a golf course southeast of the capital city; in one day, they handed out more than 15,000 bottles of water and 4,000 meals ready to eat. Some 3,000 paratroopers from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, distributed food and water and enforced security.
T he 1st Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, landed on the lawn of the devastated presidential palace, one of the few safe landing areas in Port-au-Prince, and secured the hospital about five minutes away.
The 478th Civil Affairs Battalion, which includes Creole-speaking soldiers trained in foreign humanitarianassistance operations, provided a critical link to local civil authorities. The Miami-based team is part of the U.S. Army Reserve Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command (Airborne).
Three landing craft utility vessels (LCUs) from the 97th Transportation Company (Heavy Boat), part of the 7th Sustainment Brigade, 3rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), from Fort Eustis, diverted from a training mission off Florida to join the relief effort. The LCUs provided heavy-lift vehicles and a water-purification unit from the 49th Quartermaster Group at Fort Lee, Va., to assist in port-opening operations in Port-au-Prince. A tug with barge derrick crane from the 7th Sustainment Brigade was also diverted from training to help in Haiti, and a logistics support vessel was scheduled to deliver supplies.
The 244th Aviation Brigade, headquartered at Fort Dix, N.J., deployed 300 soldiers, nine CH-47 Chinook helicopters and four UH-60 Black Hawks to distribute supplies. The 196th Transportation Company, 143rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command, an Army Reserve unit from Orlando, FIa., transported some 300,000 pounds of food aid to Miami for shipment to Haiti. The Army Reserve had called upon aviation, water purification, port operations and medical capabilities to support the operation, and it mobilized boat units capable of landing supplies on unimproved beaches.
As of late January, three UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters and 13 personnel of the Puerto Rico Army National Guard were airlifting water and rescue equipment, evacuating casualties and moving personnel in Haiti. Additional Army National Guard assets, including an aviation company, were prepared to deploy if needed.
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Above, the January 12, 7.0-magnitude earthquake reduced houses in Port-auPrince, capital of the Caribbean island nation of Haiti, to rubble. Left, landing craft utility vessel Aldie, loaded with a water purification unit and Army lift vehicles, docks January 16, in Port-auPrince. Below, soldiers in Port-auPrince load water and humanitarian supplies onto an MH-60S Seahawk helicopter for distribution.
Above, soldiers from 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C., assigned to assist Haitian relief effons, arrive in Port-au-Prince. Below, workers from 3/405th Army Field Support Brigade, Camp Darby, Italy, load shipments of humanitarian aid supplies, including water bladders and purification units, for transport to Haiti.
CPT Mark Poirier, a medical officer with 1st Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, examines a baby brought to the squadron's forward operating base in Port-au-Prince.
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Right, U.S. Army and Haitian soldiers load patients aboard an MH-60S Knighihawk helicopter for transport to the USNS Comfort, a hospital ship anchored off Port-auPrince. Below (left), CPT Jon Hartsock, 1st Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, oversees food and water distribution in Port-au-Prince. Below (right), SSG Junior Florestal, a native of Haiti with the 82nd Airborne Division, offers a drink of water to a woman at the squadron's medic station.
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SPC Brent Nailor, 1st Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, distributes prepared meals. A tent camp near the squadron's forward operating base sheltered thousands of earthquake survivors.
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